Tag: swimming in a lake

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How To Swim Straight In Open Water

One of the most common questions we get about open water swimming is, “How do I swim straight?” This is not only an important for beginners, but advanced swimmers because the faster you swim, the more chance you have to get further off line.

The Crushing Iron swimming philosophy is to take out as many variables as possible. In a nutshell, swimming straight comes down to swimming square and keeping your motion inside a rectangle.

The reason people swim crooked is because they making too many East/West motions vs. North/South. Whenever you move side to side you’re negating forward motion.

Once this gets out of balance you have a tendency to overcompensate by moving side to side instead of straight back. The key is to build fitness so you can keep your stroke wide and move “still water.”

Check out this short video for to see the concept of swimming square more clearly.

For tons more information on Open Water Swimming, check out our Podcast Series: “How to Not Suck At Swimming” parts 1-4. And be sure to subscribe to the Crushing Iron Triathlon Podcast on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

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There's Something About Swimming

Swimming has produced some of the best and worst moments of my life.  OWeliese
Take the time in Indianapolis when I was 6 years old, for example.  We were on a family vacation and I ventured off into the deep end of the apartment complex pool and vividly remember struggling to save my life.  I suffered for what seemed like an eternity before looking up from the cement edge of the pool and no one even noticed.

Then, there was the 1.2 mile Half Ironman swim in Muncie last weekend.  It also seemed like an eternity, but there was something inside me that didn’t want it to end.  When my hand hit the sand just before the swim exit I remember a subtle wave of disappointment running through my veins.

owsunrise
Today was the first time back at open water swim in about 3 weeks.  I almost forgot how amazing it is to watch the sun rise over the island as you casually approach the beach.   I’m not sure, but I think we had a record turnout today, 16 swimmers, plus the coach.  And it was a pretty tough workout, but one that gave me more confidence.944491_364503807011584_682740774_n

It’s amazing what a good swim will do for you.  It started with Muncie where I kept a solid pace for the entire 1.2 miles.  There were a lot of challenges, including a bright sun in your eyes and no good sighting targets, but not once was I anxious.  It was comfortable the whole way, and I am giving most of the credit to our open water swim training.

Up until Muncie, I more or less freaked out in every swim.  Music City sprint, NashVegas Olympic, AdPi sprint, and Rev 3 Olympic.  It sounds crazy, but I am starting to remember that feeling I had as a child (not the Indianapolis feeling) when I used to swim freely in Turtle Lake near our summer home in Wisconsin.  It was always such a joy to feel the warm water splashing your legs as you did a head first dive and swam out to the floating pontoon where we spent most of our day diving in and chasing girls.  I never remember fear of water, only how great I felt when I saw and felt it around me.  That feeling is back in my bones.